Friday, February 8, 2013

sweet potato, goat cheese, & egg bake

This sweet potato, goat cheese, & egg bake is perfect for brunch.

Brunch is one of my favorite meals, albeit one that I rarely eat now that I'm no longer in college because I am usually otherwise engaged on weekend mornings. Every Saturday and Sunday "morning" when I was in college, though, I'd go to brunch with friends. Of course, "morning" loosely described anything after 11 back then, so I suppose I eat "brunch" now, just without the traditional brunch foods.

Too bad college had to end, right? : )

Getting back on track... the flavors and textures in the dish are wonderful: the goat cheese imparts a creaminess and a tanginess that is offset by the crispiness and sweetness of the sweet potatoes, and the whole thing is rounded out by some savory caramelized onion and a runny egg yolk. This makes an especially good dinner because it's so easy: just dice everything up, spread it on one tray and don't worry about it until the timer goes off.

If you get addicted to the ease of this, I originally found this recipe on this list of easy one-tray oven dinners, and I plan on trying quite a few more myself.

Peel sweet potatoes (I use my Y-peeler) and then dice them into ½-inch cubes. Remember: the smaller you dice them, the less time that you will have to wait for them to roast.

In a large bowl, combine the chopped onion with the sweet potatoes, olive oil, and salt. Spread the mixture onto a large, rimmed baking dish. For mine, I used a 10-by-15-inch jelly roll pan.

Roast the sweet potatoes mixture at 375 degrees F for 20 to 25 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are soft in the middle. You should be able to easily stick a fork in them. Remove them from the oven briefly, but leave the oven on.

If you're using a large dish (as did I with my jelly roll pan), it will be easier to crack to do this next step if you use a heat-resistant spatula to push the sweet potatoes closer together (don't pile them up, though).

Use a spoon or your fingers to crumble the goat cheese evenly over the sweet potatoes.

Crack each egg over the sweet potatoes & cheese.

Return the tray to the oven and bake about 15 minutes more or until the whites are set. If you want your yolks to be more solid, bake for another 5 minutes or so.

Remove and use a shallow spoon or large spatula to serve hot. Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper before serving.